Robin Renwick

Robin William Renwick, or Lord Renwick of Clifton.

Date of Birth 13/12/1937

=Carreer

This is how Robin Renwick described his carreer at the website From the Website of the Zimbabwe Democracy Trust:

Lord Renwick was advisor to Lord Carrington during the negotiations which ended the war in Rhodesia and political advisor to Lord Soames during the ceasefire and elections leading to the independence of Zimbabwe. He served subsequently as Ambassador to South Africa in the period leading to the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the African National Congress. He received an honorary degree from the University of the Witwatersrand for his contribution to the struggle against apartheid. He served as Ambassador to the United States from 1991-1995. Lord Renwick subsequently became Deputy Chairman of the merchant bank, Robert Fleming, and is currently Vice-Chairman, Investment Banking for JPMorgan (Europe). Both banks have played a leading role in the attraction of new investment to Southern Africa. He serves on the boards of a number of companies with important interests in Southern Africa - SABMiller, BHP Billiton, Harmony Gold and Richemont. He was appointed to the House of Lords by Prime Minister Blair in 1997.

The Zimbabwe Democracy Trust likes to see itself as an advocating NGO:

"The Zimbabwe Democracy Trust (ZDT) was set up in the United Kingdom in April 2000 as a non-partisan pro-democracy group to campaign for the rights of Zimbabweans to live in civic peace and freedom. It was incorporated in the United States in July 2002 as a non-profit organization after its headquarters moved from London to Washington, D.C. in September 2002. In March 2003 the District of Columbia granted the ZDT charitable 501-C3 tax-exempt status."

However, early in its existence, May 2000, the organisation was exposed as a front for business promoting their interests in Zimbabwe. Research by Guardian reporters Pete Sawyer and Martin Bright reveiled there was "British cash behind bid to combat Mugabe."

Observer

Sunday May 21, 2000

A prominent group of British and American politicians and businessmen - many with energy and mining interests in Zimbabwe - are behind an international organisation to fund opposition to the regime of Robert Mugabe.

The Zimbabwe Democracy Trust, whose patrons include former Tory Foreign Secretaries Malcolm Rifkind, Douglas Hurd and Geoffrey Howe has been accused of using the organisation as a cover for promoting the interests of Western multi-nationals in the troubled region.

(...) According to ZDT literature, the organisation 'has the simplest of goals: to help the democratic will of the people flourish'. But The Observer can reveal that several of the patrons of the newly formed trust are directors of companies which have substantial commercial interests at stake in Zimbabwe. ZDT keeps its membership secret for fear of reprisals from the Mugabe regime, but The Observer has discovered that they largely come from the white business community in Zimbabwe.

(...)

The driving force behind ZDT is Sir John Collins, the Zimbabwean Chairman of National Power, Britain's largest energy company, who organised a letter to the Times, published in April, calling for free elections. He did not say his company had substantial interests in Zimbabwe; in 1998 National Power won a $1.5 billion contract to develop a power station in the country.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind has a long-standing connection to the country where he worked as a lecturer prior to independence. He works for the Australian mining company Broken Hill Proprietary which has been involved in a wrangle with the Mugabe government over a mine in Zimbabwe.

Former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Dr Chester Crocker is another patron - a director of Ashanti Gold Fields, which owns Zimbabwe's largest gold mine. When approached by The Observer, he said: 'I have nothing personally to gain from supporting the Zimbabwe Democracy Trust. They were reaching out for like-minded people and I am like-minded.'

Lord Hurd, who has no known interests in Zimbabwe, said that the patrons of ZDT were aware that some people would accuse the organisation of neo-colonialism: 'The risk was in our minds when we decided to proceed, but we are not going to just sit with sticking plaster on our mouths. If anybody chooses to make xenophobic and racist comments about what we are doing, then so be it.'